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Motorcycle Book Store > Motorcycle books beginning with G
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Great American Motorcycle Tours |
Author: Gary McKechnie
Published: 2005-12-28 |
List price: $21.95
Our price: $14.93
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As of: August 28th, 2008 08:40:48 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 A wide variety of suggested motorcycle tours
Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Great American Motorcycle Tours by Gary McKechnie offers the reader a wide variety of suggested motorcycle tours ideal for vacationers and cyclists looking for history, excitement, and the joy of the open road. Different tours appeal to different tastes, such an Amish Country Run stretching from New Hope to Intercourse, Pennsylvania, or a Wild West Run from Livingston, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming. Each individual tour has numerous historic stops, and any attraction can be easily looked up in the index for "user friendly" cross-referencing. Overall, Great American Motorcycle Tours is an enjoyable, practical, and very highly recommended guide.
 Good Beginnings
I recently purchased Gary's book in the Spring of '02 for my trips to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Sturgis. It provided an excellent primer for stopping points of interest and quality local eateries. I wasn't hung up on his allowing four days to cover 200 miles, however, I looked at is a buffet in which you can pick and choose the events of interest to you. His advice on packing warmer clothing in the dead of Summer for the elevation changes was dead on. Some may call it 'common sense', but if you see reported temperatures in Asheville at 90 degrees, you may not realize you'll need a jacket and light gloves by the time you hit Mt. Mitchell. I appreciated his advice and considered it money well spent.
 Great Ways to Avoid Motorcycling
The foreword of the book is written by Peter Fonda. I personally fail to make the connection why the endorsement of a Hollywood actor who happened to shoot a motorcycling movie should prove the value of a touring guide. But as I tried out some of the journeys, I started to see how the whole experience, which these suggested trips cater to, is concentrated around the image of motorcycling rather than the actual experience of riding. I wasted a couple of weekends diligently following directions through Pennsylvania and up the Hudson. The book led me through numerous towns and it reserved a lot of pages for information on all the things, which you could do to avoid riding your bike - you could find listings on every thrift store, restaurant, rafting company, and even bicycle tour! available on your way. Another interesting (and related) point was the fact that the author estimated coverage of about 50 miles per day i.e. if the suggested trip was 200 miles total, you were supposed to need 4 to 5 days to cover the distance. While very concentrated on all the entertainment that could be bought along the trip, the book was not especially concerned with the quality of the selected riding. Gorgeous scenic ways were followed by long stretches of banal suburban motifs and while stuck in the stop-and-go traffic I was wondering what part of the motorcycling experience I was supposed to be exercising at the time.
This is my rendering of the qualities, which the reader needs to possess in order to enjoy the recommendations in the book: 1. Your name must be Peter Fonda 2. You must be independently wealthy since you can't both hold a job and go to all these 4-5 days trips. 3. You must be versatile in the outdoors' activities to take full advantage of all the fun that awaits you out there. 4. You need friends who would like to hear about stuff like " When I flew in that helicopter over the Grand Canyon...", and "Here is a picture of me next to an Amish farmer..." 5. You only need basic riding skills and moderate motorcycling enthusiasm.
My advice is - get a map, look for the small roads, use your common sense, and explore. Good luck out there, maybe we'll meet on the road.
{This review refers to an out-of-print edition.}
cross-country
This is a fantastic book! I wanted to take a cross-country tour and this was the only book I found that covered more than one region. Second, the humor is prevalent but it never gets in the way of describing some killer back roads and great historic towns I might have missed. Third, I never felt the lodgings he recommended were that expensive because A) I am a solo rider so the rates are lower for me anyway, and B) if I don't want to stay at a place he lists, I have the option of finding a chain hotel. That's another thing -- at the end of each chapter he lists campgrounds and state parks (for even cheaper camping). Finally, the reason I like this book and would strongly recommend it is for its great references. There are listings for state tourism boards where I can get free detailed maps, a listing of motorcycle shops within a few miles of each place he visits, and websites for motorcycle corporations, rentals, and tours. This is a solid, essential, and ultimately extremely valuable source of information for ALL riders. Buy it.
{This review refers to an out-of-print edition.}
Ivan
The foreword of the book is written by Peter Fonda. I personally fail to make the connection why the endorsement of a Hollywood actor who happened to shoot a motorcycling movie should prove the value of a touring guide. But as I tried out some of the journeys, I started to see how the whole experience, which these suggested trips cater to, is concentrated around the image of motorcycling rather than the actual experience of riding. I wasted a couple of weekends diligently following directions through Pennsylvania and up the Hudson. The book led me through numerous towns and it reserved a lot of pages for information on all the things, which you could do to avoid riding your bike - you could find listings on every thrift store, restaurant, rafting company, and even bicycle tour! available on your way. Another interesting (and related) point was the fact that the author estimated coverage of about 50 miles per day i.e. if the suggested trip was 200 miles total, you were supposed to need 4 to 5 days to cover the distance. While very concentrated on all the entertainment that could be bought along the trip, the book was not especially concerned with the quality of the selected riding. Gorgeous scenic ways were followed by long stretches of banal suburban motifs and while stuck in the stop-and-go traffic I was wondering what part of the motorcycling experience I was supposed to be exercising at the time.
This is my rendering of the qualities, which the reader needs to possess in order to enjoy the recommendations in the book: 1. Your name must be Peter Fonda 2. You must be independently wealthy since you can't both hold a job and go to all these 4-5 days trips. 3. You must be versatile in the outdoors' activities to take full advantage of all the fun that awaits you out there. 4. You need friends who would like to hear about stuff like " When I flew in that helicopter over the Grand Canyon...", and "Here is a picture of me next to an Amish farmer..." 5. You only need basic riding skills and moderate motorcycling enthusiasm.
My advice is - get a map, look for the small roads, use your common sense, and explore. Good luck out there, maybe we'll meet on the road.
{This review refers to an out-of-print edition.}
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